Masami Onoda was appointed as Director of JAXA’s International Relations and Research Department as of July 2024. Prior to that she was Director of Washington D.C. Office from 2018-2024, representing the Japanese space agency in the Americas, and liaising with NASA and other governmental organizations, industry and academia.

Throughout her tenure in D.C., she supported the development of U.S.-Japan space cooperation, from Japan’s participation in the Artemis Program in 2019 to the signing of the Pressurized Rover Implementing Arrangement in April 2024, when the US President and Japanese Prime Minister announced the lunar landing opportunities by Japanese astronauts. Dr. Onoda has held several international positions, including at the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, and the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs in Vienna, Austria. She also worked with Small and Medium size Enterprises in a small satellite technology transfer project while operating the JAXA office in Osaka, Japan. Dr. Onoda holds a Ph.D. in Global Environmental Studies and master’s degree in environmental management, both from Kyoto University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, and a BA in international relations from the University of Tokyo.